THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
SOME ANDEAN INDIANS FEAR TO USE STEEL PLOWS LEST THEY POISON THE GROUND
Few foreign-made farm implements have found their way into the hands of South American
Indians. This Peruvian still uses a wooden plow.
especially in South America, my arrival
created quite a sensation.
One thing I learned, too-that the aver
age better-class native knows practically
nothing about the interior of his country;
but wherever I met American, English, or
German engineers, they would naturally
ask for as much information as possible
about the trails, as they often go out on
hunting or prospecting trips.
From Ticlio we went on down through
ravines and steep slopes toward the Pa
cific Ocean. The thermometer began to
rise as we slipped and stumbled coastward.
Finally we came to the outskirts of Lima.
The sudden change of atmospheric pres
sure affected my hearing and the sticky
heat was almost unbearable. Sunburnt,
dusty, and very hot in my heavy clothes,
I stabled my horses at the Lima race track
and went to a hotel. Here some Govern
ment officials waited to make me welcome.
A LONG STOP IN STATELY LIMA
At Lima, one of the stately cities of
South America, I remained for three
weeks, not only to rest, but also to get
the horses accustomed to the climate.
At times Lima is very hot, being almost
at sea level and only 12 degrees from the
Equator.
Because I knew full well what sandy,
difficult desert coast lay between Lima and
Ecuador, I took every precaution. My
heavy mountain clothes I changed for
light, cool things, and I modified my pack
saddle, as there would be no more climb
ing for a long time. I let the horses'
manes and tails grow long, as a long mane
protects the neck from the fierce sun, and
a long tail fights off flies and other pests
that tantalize a horse in the Tropics.
The trail ahead lay along the Peruvian
coast, where rain is almost unknown. Vil
lages and towns stand only on the short
rivers which run down from the Andes
and cross the dry coast to the sea. The
hot valleys are watered by canals, and
where such irrigation is practiced fine
crops of sugar cane, cotton, and rice are
grown; but between these remote valleys
stretch the sandy deserts, where nothing
grows and where the sand dunes rise one
after another like huge ocean billows.
Here the heat is terrific and there is abso
lutely no water (see, also, page 170).
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